Pune rural police have arrested 21 Bangladeshi nationals, including 15 men, four women, and two members of the third gender, for illegally residing in India. The group, primarily employed as construction workers and security guards, had been living in the Ranjangaon area for varying periods, with some residing there for up to a decade. Authorities also recovered fake documents, such as voter ID cards and PAN cards, raising concerns about a potential network aiding illegal entry into India.
According to police sources, the arrests were made following a tip-off received by the Anti-Terrorism Cell of the Pune rural police. Assistant police inspector Prakash Pawar and assistant sub-inspector Vishal Gavhane, while patrolling the MIDC area in Karegaon, received information about the illegal residents. “Our preliminary investigation revealed that some individuals had been staying in India for only six months, while others had been here for as long as 10 years,” said a senior police official.
Among the detained, many were found to be employed as laborers or security personnel at construction sites in the Ranjangaon MIDC, located about 50 kilometers from Pune. The discovery of fake documents, including voter IDs, UIDAI cards, and PAN cards, has prompted the authorities to look into the possibility of an organized network involved in smuggling people from Bangladesh into India via land or sea routes.
“A voter identity card was recovered from one of the accused, and other individuals were found with fake UIDAI and PAN cards,” an official reported. Authorities are now investigating whether a larger smuggling ring is facilitating the illegal entry of Bangladeshi nationals into India.
An FIR has been registered at the Ranjangaon MIDC police station under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Passports Act, and the Foreigners Act. The investigation aims to identify the full extent of the illegal immigration network and take further action against those responsible for facilitating it.
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